Ever since the rerun election was concluded there have been various opinions about the position of the Speaker of AKHA. What are the issues?
1. Rt. Hon Aniekan Uko was elected Speaker to AKHA at the inception of the Gov Udom Emmanuel's administration. Though his election was a surprised to many considering his background as a first timer to the state assembly, never the less he was given the desired cooperation to do his job.
2. According to some pundits, his choice was to create a balance in terms of power sharing in favor of Uyo Senatorial District. This was sub-particularized to Uyo Federal Constituency.
3. But somewhere during his regime as Speaker, his election to AKHA was annulled by the Appeal Court.
3a. It should be noted that the appeal court did not annul his position as speaker but his election. But why then did he not remain as dpeaker after the annulment of his election? We would look at that later.
3b. The appeal court subsequently ordered for fresh election.
4. A new Speaker was subsequently elected in person of Rt. Hon Onofiok Luke.
5. Rt. Hon Aniefiok Uko was however re-elected during the re-run.
7. Some opinions propose that Rt Hon Aniekan Uko should be returned to the position of Speaker.
The question is how? As a people, we should be careful of the foundation we lay today because of posterity. Tomorrow we may not be there to explain the circumstances which necessitated certain actions but let posterity find explanation in the document that we gave to ourselves to regulate our actions - which is the constitution.
Firstly we mentioned that the appeal court did not annul Rt. Hon Aniekan Uko's position as speaker. It was never mentioned either in the court proceeding nor in the judgement. In order words the position of speaker wasn't in issue. Yet he lost the position as soon as he lost his membership of the house. This presupposes that you must first of all be a member of the house before you can be speaker. No more, no less.
Going by this argument, Rt Hon Onofiok Luke in the opinion of this writer was not elected as a replacement to Rt Hon Aniekan Uko. I would explain. As at the time of Mr. Luke's election as Speaker Mr. Uko was technically not a member of the house. However, we all know that Rt Hon Aniekan Uko was the immediate past Speaker of the house. Of course if you look into the records of the state house of assembly you would see evidence too which confirms that Rt Hon Aniekan Uko was the immediate past speaker. But those are historical records. In the eyes of the law, however, Rt Hon Aniekan Uko was not the immediate past speaker because he wasnt elected to the state house of assembly until after the rerun. I am open to correction please. This is because his first election was nullified by the appeal court; which presupposes that it didn't take place in the first place as far as the law is concerned. That is the law. The safest depository of the ultimate powers of the society is the people themselves; and they have been enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion through the constitution - which is the law of the land. Any society that is ruled with sentiment rather than the law is heading for trouble. Akwa Ibomites are law abiding people. As is often said the law cannot make your neighbor love you but it can stop him from lynching you. Therefore the safest thing to do at all times is to allow the law regulate our activities.
The proposal for his return as Speaker therefore is like asking a sitting speaker of the house to vacate his position to a newly elected member of the house who joined the house long after the speaker was elected. This is the picture in the eye of the law. The demand therefore is ultra vires as it finds no place in the law. It might appear to be a political correctness of some sort. But it would be setting a dangerous precedence founded on political correctness rather than legality. And if the citadel of law making (house of assembly) is founded on illegality the society is heading towards collapse. I don't care how many states have returned the former speaker after rerun election; the fact remains that what is not right is not right. After all it is not against the law to be an idiot. So any state that chose to act idiotic is free to do so but those are not values Akwa Ibom State should copy.
Some have also argued on the basis of equity. Without ambiguity, Equity concerns the process of appealing to higher principles of fairness when initial measures fell short of ensuring perfect justice. For instance under equity one could appeal to the king to "make good" on a case where the basic application of law had created some measure of injustice. But he who sought equity must do so with clean hands. Accordingly, the basis for appealing to equity must not in itself be illegal.
The office of Speaker of AKHA was zoned to Uyo Senatorial District. Hon Onofiok Luke is a son of USD. It is the appeal of this writer that rather than overheat the system USD should cooperate with their son to deliver service to Akwa Ibom people.
Rt Hon Aniekan Uko in my opinion is a young man who is already blessed and positioned for abundant blessing. He should not let anyone distract him and make him look selfish in the eyes of the public. To live a pure unselfish life, one must count nothing as one's own. The office of speaker was merely a call to service, not necessarily his for keeps. I believe greater things await him in future. It wasn't Onofiok Luke that replaced him as speaker; it was God and the law. He should accept what God has given him with gratitude and look forward to greater things in future and not allow anyone to use him to overheat the system. After all there are people far older than him, who work harder than him but who are not in the position God has placed him today. His best word should be thank you Jesus.
James Abang Writes From Atte Okiuso Village, Urueoffong/Oruko LGA.
No comments:
Post a Comment